The Avancement of the Cause of Irish Catholics and Nationalist Leaders in the Years 1801 - 1921

The Avancement of the Cause of Irish Catholics and Nationalist Leaders in the Years 1801 - 1921

In 1801, the Act of Union between Britain and Ireland saw the closing

of Irish Parliament and was therefore routinely denounced by all

manner of Irish nationalists. Much of Ireland was owned by absentee

protestant ascendancy landlords, which caused a lot of bad feeling

among the ordinary Irish people who worked on the land and had to pay

extortionate rents for the land they worked on, often to be thrown off

without compensation.

The first major Irish Nationalist leader was Daniel O’Connell, who was

born into the Roman Catholic Gentry and had Gaelic roots, and

practiced as a barrister in Dublin. He believed in political and

religious equality and wanted change, but his experiences of the

French revolution had frightened him way from violence. He famously

said, “No political change whatsoever is worth shedding a single drop

of blood for.”

His main objectives were the repeal of the Act if Union and to

“restore old Ireland of her independence.” It is probable that in the

short term he hoped for reform of the Union rather than repeal, but if

he had voiced this, many of the more radical Irish would have found

him too moderate and he wouldn’t have had nearly as much support as he

did.

When, in 1821 an Emancipation Bill passed the Commons, but failed the

Lords, O’Connell had had enough; “Twenty years have passed and we are

still slaves.” He felt new tactics were needed so decided to link

emancipation with nationalism in order to widen support for the cause.

In 1823, O’Connell founded the Catholic Association, along with his

su...

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...n the Anglo-Irish struggle wasn’t a

main issue and the strongest feelings weren’t raised by religion, but

by nationalism and disputes over land.

The more violent leaders, when organised properly, unlike the Fenians,

seemed to have achieved more in the long run: Michael Collins,

despite being assassinated, essentially gained Ireland it’s

independence, and this was mainly achieved as a result of the

Anglo-Irish war, de Valera and the setting up of Dail Eireann.

Although, without the non-violent, legal approaches to gain power made

by earlier leaders, the British Government may have been harder on

Ireland and restricted it’s freedoms once again. And without

O’Connell’s achievement of Catholic emancipation, many of the later

leaders may never have spoken out, as they wouldn’t have been able to

stand in Parliament.